Conflict
by Tigergirl1223
Summary: My own take of Whiskey Cavalier season 2. Will begin to deviate from canon a little bit as the story goes on. #SaveWhiskeyCavalier #RenewWhiskeyCavalier
1. Chapter 1: The Waiting Room

The team sat in the waiting room waiting to hear news about Standish. By the time Jai had found him in an alleyway bleeding out, Ollerman had been long gone. He had immediately called 911 followed by Will and Frankie along with Susan, who was still at the hospital with Ray. Standish had lost a lot of blood and had multiple stab wounds in his abdomen along with some major abdominal damage, so he was in an emergency surgery. Jai, Will, and Frankie were sitting around while Susan had taken to pacing the waiting room, occasionally going back to Ray's room to inform him of Standish's condition. They were losing so many people lately: first Will had lost Emma (Frankie felt sorry for him, but she'd be lying if she didn't admit that she was thrilled for less competition. Wait, what? She didn't like Will that way), then they had nearly lost Ray (sure, he had slept with Will's fiancée, but he was still a member of the team), then Tina had turned out to be Ollerman's evil sidekick and girlfriend (no one including Standish was sorry she was dead), and now, Standish was seriously injured. They couldn't lose him too.

Will was reading some trashy magazine, but he couldn't tell anyone what any of the articles were about. His mind was too busy reeling around some of his recent encounters with Frankie: their dinner where they had Chinese take-out (with no fortune cookies, sadly), their almost-kiss the day beforehand, and their obvious chemistry. Frankie wasn't doing anything other than twiddling her thumbs, so Will slid closer to her on the bench. Frankie looked up at Will, but didn't say anything. Finally, Will broke the silence, "So you're just going to act like nothing is going on between us?"

Frankie looked over at Will and gave him an incredulous look, "I'm not _acting_ like there's nothing going on between us. There _isn't _anything going on between us."

"Oh really? Because if I remember correctly, we were standing on a balcony yesterday and we almost…"

"Okay," Frankie yanked the magazine out of Will's hand and said, "We're not having this discussion here."

"So, you agree we have things to discuss?" asked Will hopefully.

Frankie looked over at Susan, "Susan?" Susan stopped her pacing and looked over at Frankie, "I'm going to go get some coffee. Do you want to join me?"

Susan understood the context, so she smiled broadly and answered, "Of course, I could use some caffeine. These last few days haven't been easy."

The two women walked towards the hospital cafeteria, leaving Will and Jai alone in the waiting room. Jai got up from his chair and sat down next to Will. He was silent for a few moments before he asked, "When are you going to tell Frankie you like her?"

Will looked over at Jai in surprise, "You actually care?"

"Not particularly," admitted Jai, "But I've been told I need to learn how to bond with people and it's the proper social convention, so I'm asking."

Will sighed, "Well, clearly Frankie isn't willing to admit she feels the same way. If she even does."

"I know the feeling," Jai said, "But if you like someone, you shouldn't let them get away."

Will looked over at Jai in confusion, but didn't ask any further because Susan and Frankie returned with their coffees, "That was fast," commented Will.

"There was no line if you want to go get some," said Susan.

Just then, the doctor appeared and asked, "Is there anyone here for Edgar Standish?"

Jai and Will stood and Frankie and Susan walked over to him, "We're all here for him right now," said Will.

The doctor nodded and said, "Well, the damage is repaired, he's not out of the woods yet, he's being monitored in the ICU, but we're cautiously optimistic about his condition."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great to hear, doctor," said Frankie. He might be a goofball sometimes, but she couldn't imagine the team without Standish.

The doctor walked away and Susan smiled, "I'm going to go tell Ray," she walked off towards his hospital room.

"Yeah, you go tell Ray," Jai muttered under his breath. Frankie hadn't noticed but Will had heard Jai's words and the tone in which he had uttered them.

Frankie looked into her empty coffee cup and said, "I drank this way too fast. Now I want to go get another one."

"You do that," said Will and Frankie left the two men standing there.

Will immediately turned to Jai, but Jai interrupted him, "Don't. Say. Anything."

"What? The fact that you are totally jealous of Ray?" asked Will. He couldn't believe what he had just said. Someone was jealous of Ray and that someone was Jai Datta.

"I'm not talking about this with you. Or anyone," said Jai, taking a seat again.

"You're the one who brought it up," said Will.

"I didn't bring it up to you," Jai held up an issue of _People Magazine _and pretended like he cared about the gibberish in the articles.

"Jai Datta is jealous of Ray Prince. Unbelievable," Will chuckled to himself. Jai put the magazine down on the bench and stood to walk away, "Hey, where are you going?"

"To find Frankie. She doesn't like to talk about her feelings. She gets me," said Jai and went towards the cafeteria.

Susan arrived shortly after Jai left and she sat down next to Will, "Well, Ray is thrilled with the fact that Standish is out of surgery and according to the doctors, he should be released tomorrow or the next day," Will looked over at his friend and nodded, doing his best to hide his smirk, "What?"

"Nothing," answered Will.

"Will Chase, I've known you for several years now and I'm one of the FBI's top psychological profilers. I know when something's up. Is this about you liking Frankie?"

"What? No!" said Will.

"Will, listen to me. I almost lost Ray, and if Jai hadn't told me to tell him how I really felt about him and he had died, I would've hated myself. We work in a dangerous profession, Will. You have to live every day as if it was your last. And believe me, the worst thing that could happen is if you let someone you care about get away."

Will wasn't quite sure what to say. He knew Susan was right; she was always the one of the bunch to tell it like it was, but he couldn't help but think about his chat with Jai right before Susan had returned. He laid a hand on her shoulder and she did the same. Will squeezed her hand and asked, "What would I do without you?"

"You'd still be toying with your feelings for Frankie. Now go find her!" said Susan.

Will nodded and went off to find Frankie, hoping she hadn't left the hospital yet. Susan sat alone before she sent a text to everyone saying she was leaving right before Jai came back to the waiting room. He didn't say anything, so she spoke first, "I should really be getting home now that Standish is out of surgery. I'll see you at the Dead Drop tomorrow?"

"Of course," Jai nodded.

"Okay. I'm going to tell Ray good night and then I'm out of here," said Susan.

Jai sighed and looked at the time. It was getting late, so he figured he should probably head home too. He bid Will and Frankie goodbye and they all agreed to meet at the Dead Drop tomorrow before visiting Standish. But somehow, almost everyone was leaving the hospital with more conflicting feelings than when they had arrived.


	2. Chapter 2: Feelings

Ray was released from the hospital the next day and Standish was moved out of the ICU and into his own private room a day after that, so the team decided to visit him together. Of course, they had taken it upon themselves to buy some 'Get Well Soon' balloons and also get him some 'Get Well' cards. Will knocked on the hospital door and everyone let themselves into the room, "Hey Standish," Will beamed, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got stabbed by an evil overlord," responded Standish, doing his best not to crack a smile, "Did you all get him?"

"No," answered Jai, "He was gone by the time I found you."

"And we've been a little too focused on getting everyone well to chase after Ollerman right now," said Susan, taking Ray's hand. Standish and everyone else couldn't help but notice Jai's face slightly twitch with jealousy (but only slightly).

"Anyways, we all got you get well cards," Frankie handed hers to Standish.

"Standish, get well soon. I'm sorry your girlfriend turned out to be an evil…" Standish read out loud, "What the? Frankie, I can't even finish reading that out loud," Will gave Frankie his look and Frankie just shrugged her shoulders, "Don't worry, she was an evil…I feel used."

"That's because you were used," said Jai.

"Jai," said Susan through gritted teeth.

"Sorry. I'm still trying to learn what's appropriate to say and what's not appropriate to say," Jai apologized.

"And it looks like Ray is doing better since he's standing right in front of me," commented Standish.

"Well, now that I don't have anything that could explode inside of me and cause permanent damage or death, I'd say yes, I feel a lot better," Susan glared at Ray and Ray asked, "What?"

"Well, we just wanted to check on you, but we know you need to rest," said Will, "Frankie and I need to talk anyways," Will left the room.

"Wait, we do? You mean you're still obsessing over that?" Frankie followed him out of the room.

"Well, we both had a special afternoon planned, so we'll see you later, Standish," Susan grabbed Ray's hand and they both left the room.

Jai sat down in the chair next to Standish's bed, but didn't say anything at first. He finally said, "Don't go getting stabbed like that again. You scared me and you scared the whole team."

"Like I was planning to get stabbed by Ollerman," joked Standish, "You don't plan on leaving?"

"Where would I go? I have no significant other. I'm not like Will hoping to gain a significant other…" Standish snickered and moaned out of pain since it still hurt to cough and laugh, "What was that for?"

"The part about you not obsessing over having a significant other," laughed Standish.

"Well, I don't," defended Jai, "It's Will that's hell bent on making Frankie like him."

"Yeah, unlike you, who has no one in the entire universe that he likes," said Standish sarcastically. Jai glared at Standish and Standish said, "Come on man, I can see the look on your face whenever Susan and Ray are around you."

"That's because they like to engage in public displays of affection and I don't particularly enjoy public displays of affection or watching people commit public displays of affection," said Jai.

"Or maybe you're jealous of Ray because you like Susan," commented Standish casually, "It was kind of obvious a little earlier…"

"Listen," Jai stood, "I don't like Susan and I don't care who she dates. And even if I _did _like Susan, she's chosen Ray, she's happy with Ray, and there's nothing I can do about it. Now I'm sure you need your rest and the others are expecting me at the Dead Drop, so I must go," Jai went to leave.

As soon as Jai was out of earshot, Standish said to himself, "Or _is _there something we can do?"

After their meeting at the Dead Drop to begin the plan to track down Ollerman (which would be a challenge with Standish out of commission for several weeks), Frankie was just about to head back to her apartment when Will stopped her, "Frankie!"

"I don't want to talk right now, Will!" she called.

"And I'm not going to force you to talk. At least not about…"

"That moment on the balcony in Prague, which meant nothing," she said firmly.

"How about we go out for dinner tonight? Maybe get some Chinese food that hopefully will include fortune cookies. I know this great place on 5th Avenue, it's nice and cozy, good for private conversations," said Will.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" asked Frankie.

"No," Will answered quickly, "Not if you don't want it to be," Frankie eyed him skeptically, "Come on, Frankie, you have to eat."

"Okay, but I'm establishing a few rules: we pay for our own meals, no hand holding, no calling me honey or boo or bae or any other cute pet name, and no telling the others about this date. Understand?"

"So you admit it's a date?" asked Will.

"A date as friends to clarify what happened in Prague," Frankie started to walk away, to which Will quickly followed her.

When they arrived at the restaurant, the hostess seated them and the waitress took their orders before they were alone, though Frankie wasn't saying much. Naturally, Will began the conversation, "So about Prague…?"

"You waste no time, do you?" asked Frankie.

"Come on, Frankie, you've been ignoring this conversation since we got back from the Czech Republic. We have to talk about it sometime," said Will.

Over the course of the meal, Frankie did her best to ignore the balcony in Prague moment. She talked about the plan to capture Ollerman, she discussed Standish's condition, she was even desperate enough to talk about the weather. They both paid for their meals and Will walked Frankie home, "Well, this is my building. You should probably get going."

"Frankie, you didn't even mention Prague the whole night," said Will.

Frankie sighed, "Fine, I think I have a bottle of wine upstairs in my apartment. We can talk about it there," Will followed Frankie up to her apartment and she let him into the living room, "Well, make yourself at home," she said.

She poured two glasses of wine and sat down next to Will on the couch. She quickly downed the first glass of wine and poured herself a second one, the pair enjoying their beverages in comfortable silence. Will finally took a deep breath and asked, "So, about Prague?"

"You want to know why I've been ignoring this conversation. I can't stand the thought of dating you because I can't stand the thought of losing you. Susan almost lost Ray. We almost lost Standish. You lost Emma. Standish lost Tina. Granted, I understand Tina was an evil…"

"Hold up, Frankie," Will stopped, "If you don't like me and there's nothing going on between us, then why are you so afraid of losing me?"

Frankie drank the last of her wine and poured herself yet another glass, "Don't you know me by now? I don't like to talk about my feelings, but I wanted nothing more than to kiss you on that balcony. But we work in a dangerous profession and I'm afraid if we date, I'm going to lose you. So there. I admitted I like you! Are you happy?" she rambled.

Will wasn't unhappy, but he knew at this point that Frankie was too drunk to do anymore talking or anything else for that matter, so he just nodded, "For now," he responded. He helped Frankie to her bedroom and covered her before he turned off the light and left her apartment for the night, though he couldn't help but smile to himself a little.


	3. Chapter 3: Confession

The next morning, Frankie awoke with a massive headache, no thanks to her drinking the night beforehand. She didn't remember every detail about the previous evening, but she did remember the important events: they had visited Standish in the hospital, she had eaten Chinese food with Will, they had come back to her apartment, and then…oh crap! She couldn't remember what happened after that. She bolted upright in bed and whispered to herself, "Son of a bitch."

She glanced at the time and realized she had to be at the Dead Drop in 90 minutes in order to get her next assignment from Ray. She showered and filled the biggest tumbler she owned full of coffee before meeting up with the rest of the team, though Will was the only one there when she arrived, "Good morning sleepy head," Will greeted amusingly.

Frankie didn't answer, but instead, sat down across from him and asked, "What happened last night?"

"Well, we went out to dinner, I walked you back to your apartment, I had one glass of wine while you had three, you admitted you like me, I tucked you into bed, and then I left," he informed.

"Dammit," Frankie cursed under her breath, "We didn't…you know, did we?"

"No," Will shook his head, "Not even a peck on the lips."

"Good," said Frankie, chugging some of her coffee, "But I drunkenly poured my heart out to you?"

"Yes," Will confirmed.

"Dammit," Frankie cursed again.

Just then, Susan and Ray walked into the bar and Jai followed shortly thereafter, "Buenos Aires," Ray commented.

Will and Frankie looked at each other in confusion before Will said, "I'm pretty sure the Spanish phrase for good morning is buenos dias, Ray," said Will.

"No, I know that. Your next assignment is in Buenos Aires," Ray clarified, "Javier Acosta is running a Ponzi scheme in order to maintain his drug empire. It's also shown that he's planning an attack in the Plaza de Mayo. He's been able to smuggle some drugs in the U.S. via vehicles exported to the country. Your job is to capture him and take him to the Hague before coming back here. Jai will be going with you both while Susan, Standish, and I monitor everything stateside."

"Wonderful," Jai commented, though there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Wait, if Standish is in the hospital, how is he helping us?" asked Frankie.

"I have my ways that I made sure he stayed connected," said Jai.

"Well, let's go, we have a Ponzi scheme to dismantle," said Will.

Once the three of them were on the plane, Jai had put on noise canceling headphones so Will knew he wasn't listening. He slid closer to Frankie and Frankie looked over at him, "I figure you're going to discuss feelings with me more while I'm trapped?"

"Exactly," admitted Will, "Well…"

"Listen, Will, about last night," Frankie interrupted him, "I meant what I said about liking you. But just because I like you doesn't mean I want to date you or have a relationship with you. We work in too dangerous of a profession to be in a relationship."

"But Frankie, if we truly care about each other we can make this work," argued Will.

"Look Will, you're a great guy and you deserve a woman to love you. I just can't be that woman. I'm sorry," Frankie apologized.

Everyone was silent for the rest of the flight to Argentina. It didn't take the three of them long to stop the attack and to capture Javier (thanks to Susan and Jai's ingenious plan) before taking him to the Hague. When the team arrived back in New York City, they had a small celebration at the Dead Drop. Ray and Susan bid their farewells and Will left without saying anything to Frankie; Jai hadn't failed to notice. Since it was just him and his longtime friend, he decided to give it a shot in regards to giving advice. He sat down next to her at the bar and said, "You know Will really likes you, Francesca."

Frankie glanced over at Jai when he used her full name and sighed, "Yeah, I know," she played with her drink, "But you know me. I wouldn't be any good at this whole relationship thing. And even if I was, I couldn't think about losing him. Not after what happened to Emma or what almost happened to Standish and Ray."

Jai didn't say anything more at first because he was too busy trying to find the right words. He finally said, "But Will is right. If you both truly care about each other, you can make it work."

Frankie nodded before she bolted her head towards him, "Wait a minute? He told me that on the plane when you had…"

"I observe everything," said Jai, "The point I'm trying to make here Frankie is don't let Will get away just because you're scared of the what-ifs. If you wait too long, you might lose him, and I don't mean because of death."

"Look at you giving romantic advice. Sounds like you're speaking from experience," joked Frankie. Jai couldn't help but chuckle a little, but he didn't know whether Frankie knew or not. It certainly seemed that Will and Standish did, "I think I better go apologize to Will."

Frankie grabbed her things and left the Dead Drop, "Go get your man, Francesca," Jai whispered to himself.

Will heard a knock on his apartment door, so he went to go see who was on the other side. He was a bit surprised to see Frankie standing on the other side, "Frankie?"

"Hi Will," she said softly, "May I come in?"

"Of course," he stepped aside. Frankie walked into the living room and Will said, "Frankie…"

"No, I need to talk first," Frankie interrupted him, "About what I said on the plane, about never being able to date you; I don't know what the hell I was thinking? I guess I'm just scared. I know. Hard to believe," she joked and Will laughed, "I never thought about a relationship before I met you. I've always been terrified to commit. I'm scared this isn't going to work out and it'll make things awkward at work, but I can't be around you any longer without being with you. I know I'm going to suck at this whole girlfriend thing. I'll vomit if you give me a sappy Hallmark card. I'll probably punch you if you give me a cute pet name. I'll mess up a lot. I won't know what the hell I'm doing. But I want to give it a try."

Will wasn't quite sure what to think other than the fact that he was pretty sure Frankie had asked him to go steady with her in her Frankie Trowbridge way. He stepped closer to her and cupped her face in his hands. They gazed into each other's eyes and they could both feel their breathing getting heavier and faster as their lips met for the first time (or at least the first real time). And it was magical. It was passionate. It was everything they had both wanted it to be and more. Will finally pulled back and answered, "Yes."

"Good," said Frankie, "Just one more thing?" Will raised his eyebrows, "We should keep this a secret from the others."

"Oh come on, Frankie; they already know," said Will, "Besides, that worked out so well for Susan and Ray didn't it?"

Frankie bobbed her head a little, "True."

"But if you want…"

"Just shut up and kiss me some more."


End file.
